Multiple seal floating deck tank



Feb. 26, 1935. A. A. KRAMER MULTIPLE SEAL FLOATING DECK TANK Original Filed June 14, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet '1 ATTORNEY Feb. 26, 1935. A KRAMER 1,992,221

MULTIPLE SEAL FLOATING DECK TANK Original Filed June 14, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR flfiararfl. Kramer BY 56a! ATTORNEY Patented Feb. 26, 1935 MULTIPLE SEAL FLOATING DECK Tm Andrew A. Kramer, Kansas City, Mo., assignor to George D. Beardsley, Kansas City, Mo.

Application June 14, 1928,- Serial No. 285,417

Renewed September 11, 1933 22 Claims.

My invention relates to tanks and more particularly to floating deck tanks and thesealing means between the peripheral edge portion of the deck and the side wall of the tank.

It. is a purpose of my inventionto provide a floating de'ck tank with sealing means of such a character that there will be substantially no escape of gases through the same between the side wall of the tank and the peripheral edge of the tank. In order .to accomplish this a plurality of sealing means is preferably provided, said sealmg means comprising shoes arranged in pairs so as to engage the side wall of the tank at points spaced vertically from each other. The reason for providing a plurality of vertically spaced sealing means, as set forth above, is, that the tank is made of a plurality of sheets or plates secured together so that there are both vertical and horizontal seams in the side wall of the tank. These seams, due to the fastening elements that are provided and due to the overlap of the plates or sheets cause rather pronounced ofisets or projections in the side wall of the tank at said seams. If a single sealing element is used the same will be moved away from the side wall of the tank due to engagement with such offsets or projections and will provide a space between said side wall and the sealing member whereby gases will escape between the sealing means and said wall. By

the provision of the plurality of vertically spaced sealing means this difficulty is avoided, as one of said sealing means will be in engagement with a substantially smooth wall portion of the tank, to provide a seal betweenthe deck and tank, even though another of the vertically aligned sealing means will be in engagement with a horizontal seam to provide a space between the side wall of the tank and saidsealing means.

More particularly it is a purpose of my" invention to provide vertically spaced sealing members that are so mounted relatively to each other that when one of said sealing members is moved away from the tank side wall another of the sealing members will remain in engagement with the tank side wall to provide a tight seal between the sealing member and the tank side wall. In the constructions shown in the drawings this is accomplished by providing pairs of vertically spaced sealing members made in the form of shoes engaging the side wall of the tank that are connected in such a manner that an inward movement of one of said shoes of each pair will not disturb the engagement of the other shoe of the pair with the side wall of the tank.

It is a further purpose of myinvention to provide sealing means in addition to the shoes mentioned above, said sealing means being preferably made of a material that is substantially gastight, and in one form of the invention shown is made of a gas-tight flexible fabric.

It is another object of my invention to reduce the space between the liquid in the tank and the lowermost sealing means to a minimum to reduce the evaporating surface of the liquid in thetank and thus the evaporation losses to a minimum. 0 This may be accomplished by means of the gastight fabric referred to above, or in any other suitable manner as by means of shoe members interposed between the lower shoe that engages the side wall of the tank and the rim of the 15 deck. l

It is also an object of my invention to provide a floating deck for oil tanks that has a relatively high peripheral rim to reduce the liability of the deck sinking due to any tilt in the same or any sudden throwing of the same out of even keel. It is furthermore an object of the invention to provide a sealing means of the character set forth above in which the upper sealing members also serve as deflector means for directing any water falling in the space between the deck an dside wall of the tank onto the deck inwardly of the:

rim.

My invention also includes the means for mounting the gas-tight flexible means in position on the shoes and the floating deck. Said means preferably comprises resilient clamping members carried by each of the lower shoes and correspondingly arranged resilient clamping members on the floating deck.

Other objects and advantages of my invention will appear as the description of the drawings proceeds. I desire to have it understood, however, that I do not intend to limit myself to the particular details of construction shown or described, but that I intend to include as part of my invention all such obvious changes and modifications of parts as would occur to a person skilled in this art and as would fall within the scope of the claims.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary sectional view of a tank and floating deck showing my improved sealing means provided between the side wall of the tank and the peripheral edge of the deck.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentaryhorizontal section through the side wall of the tank taken above the deck, the sealing means and a fragment of the deck being shown in top plan.

stantially straight Fig. 3 is a fragmentary section taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a section taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a section taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 6 is a 'view similar different sealing means.

Fig. '7 is a section taken on the line 7-7 of Fig. 6, and

Fig. 8 is a view similar to Fig. 1 of a double seal without the additional sealing means between the lower shoe and the floating deck.

Referring in detail to the drawings my improved sealing means is shown as being applied to Fig. 1 of a slightly to a pan-like floating deck 10 having a relatively high peripheral rim portion 11 the same being braced by means of the gusset plates 12. Said deck 10 is adapted to float upon or be supported by the liquid 13 in a tank having the substantially cylindrical side wall 14.

The deck may beprovided with any desired form of bracing means such as the channels 60, and truss rods 61 may also be provided for pre venting sagging of the deck at the outer edge thereof.

An angle member 15 is secured to the top edge of the rim.11, and the shoes 16 are loosely secured to the angle member 15 by means of the bolts 1? having the heads 18 and being provided with the nuts 19. The nuts 19 are not tightened on the bolts to clamp the shoes 16 tightly on the angle member 15 but are left spaced at such a distance from the heads 18 of the bolts as to permit independent rocking of each of the shoes 16 about the top edge of the rim 11, at the angular bend 20 in said shoe.

Each shoe is provided with an elongated downwardly inclined portion 21 connected with a subportion 22 engaging the side wall 14 of the tank by a curved portion 23 and terminating in an inwardly curved portion 24 curved toward the floating deck 10. The inwardly curved portion 24 is located below the level ofthe liquid 13 the surface of the liquid between the deck and tank being indicated by the numeral 25. An inwardly extending slightly upghrdllys inclined extension 26 is provided on the The shoes 16 alternate with shoes 16' of substantially the same construction as the shoes 16 except that the same have offsets 2'? along the.

side edges thereof, whereby said shoes 16' are adapted to overlap the shoes 16 and said shoes 16 and 16' are readily removable without the necessity of removing a very large number of said shoes, to release the desired shoe.

Cooperating 28or 28', the shoes 28 cooperating with the shoes 16 and the shoes 28' cooperating with the shoes 16' and said shoes 28 and 28 being substantially alike, the only difierence between the same being that the shoes 28' have the offsets 29 along the side edges thereof to obtain the same overlapped arrangement of the shoes 28 and :28 as of the shoes 16 and 16' described above.

Each of the shoes 28 is shown as'being provided with a substantially straight body portion 30 inclined inwardly and downwardly from the side wall of the tank toward the deck. Said shoes are each provided with a curved upper end portion 3F the free end 32 of which is spaced from the side wall of the tank when the convex with each shoe 16 or 16 is a shoe portion 34 extending at an oblique angle to the portion 30, said portion 34 terminating in a downwardly directed slightly curved flange 35 overlying the extreme end edge of the portion 26 of the shoe 16.

The shoe 28 is secured to the shoe 16 by means of the fastening elements 36, said fastening elements being shown as being in the form of bolts having the heads 37 and engaged by' the nuts 38. Saidnuts 38 are not tightened on the bolts so as to clamp the members 16 and 28 together tightly in fixed position, but the position of the nuts 38 is such that the same only loosely connect the said members together.

The shoes 28 and 28' thus rest respectively on the extensions 26 provided on the shoes 16 and 16' and the weight of said shoes acting on said extensions will cause the shoes 16 and 16 to engage with the side wall of the tank. The shoes 28 and 28' will engage with the side wall of the tank due to the action of gravity.

The relationship of the shoes 16 and 28 and the shoes 16 and 28' to'each other, due to the loose connections between the same is such, that movement of any one of the shoes 16 or 16 away from the wall of the tank will take place without movement of the corresponding shoe 28 or 28' away from the wall of the tank, while a movement of any one ofthe shoes 28 or 28' away from the wall of the tank will take place without movement of the corresponding shoes 16 or 16' away from the wall of the tank. Thus the movement of a shoe 16 away from the wall of the tank toward the deck due to passing over a horizontal seam will not cause an opening to exist from the surface of the liquid in the tank to the outer air because the shoe 28 will remain in engagement with the side wall of the tank. In a similar mannor, a movement of a shoe 28 away from the tank wall due to said shoe passing over a horizontal seam will not cause such an opening to exist as the shoe 16 will remain in engagement with the side wall of the tank.

The position assumed by the shoes 16 and 28 when a shoe 16 passes over a horizontal seam is shown in dotted lines in Fig. 8, the shoes l6"'and 28 assuming similar relative positions. The position assumed by the shoe 28 when it passes over a horizontal seam is shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1, the shoe 28' assuming a similar position. The position of the shoes 16 and 16 will not change when the shoes 28 and 28' pass over a horizontal seam.

The construction of the shoes in the various forms of the invention shown are the same as far as described. In certain of the forms of the invention shown, however, additional sealing means, to reduce the evaporation of liquid contained in the tank and to reduce the possibility of explosion of volatile liquids in the tank or the possibility of fire reaching said contents, are provided.

One such sealing means is shown in Figs. 1 and 3. This sealing means is placed between the lower shoe members and 'the upstanding rim of the deck and is located under the shoes 16. Said sealing means is provided to confine the gases passing from the liquid so as to prevent the escape thereof, and to prevent the free circulation of air over the surface of the liquid, whereby evaporation of said liquid is reduced to a minimum. In Figs. 1 and 3, the sealing means is shown as comprising a continuous piece of flexible gas-tight fabric 40, which extends all the way around the deck and is secured both to the upstanding rim 11 of the deck and to the lower portion of the shoes 16 and 16'. The means for securing the flexible member 40 to the deck rim 11, comprises the clamping members 41, each of which may be in the form of a rod or tube having an outer curved face. Each clamping member 41 is carried by the resilient bars 42 having the flanges 43 welded or otherwise secured to the deck 10. A pair of such bars is preferably provided, for each clamping member. The flexible gas-tight material passes downwardly along the outer side of the rim 11 as indicated at 44 and is held in close contact therewith by the clamping members 41. The bottom edge 45 of the flexible material 40 extends below the surface of the liquid, as clearly shown in Fig. 1. The means for securing the flexible member 40 to the shoes comprises clamping members 46 similar to the clamping members 41 having the resilient bars 4'7 secured to the shoes at 48 for clamping the flexible material to the shoes with a spring pressure, there being a clamping bar for each shoe. It will be noted that the flexible material extends along the inner faces of the shoes as shown at 49 and bridges the gaps between them and that the lower edge 50 of said gas-tight flexible material extends below the surface of the liquid in the tank.

By this arrangement, substantially none of the surface of the liquid will be exposed to free circulation of air over the same and there will be substantially no evaporation losses. Furthermore the flexible material 40 willnot interfere with the movement of the shoes 16 and 16' toward and away from the tank wall, and in case of any unusual outward movement of the shoes toward said wall, the yieldable clamping means will permit suflicient movement of the flexible material relative thereto to prevent interference with the movement of said shoes. As the flexible material has both its edges extending below the surface of the liquid in the tank, no gas will escape around the same.

Instead of providing the additional sealing means described above sealing means such as shown in Figs. 6 and '7 may be provided. Said sealing means comprising shoes 51 and 52 pivoted at 53 to the deck below the liquid level in the tank. Said shoes are preferably metallic and the shoes 51 and 52 are substantially alike except that the shoes 52 have offset side edges 54 which overlap the side edges of the shoes 51, said shoes 51 and 52 alternating. By providing the oyerlapping shoes a substantially gas tight metallic seal is provided under the shoes 16 and 16', which serves to prevent evaporation of the liquid and escape of gas from under the same. In order that said shoes do not interfere with the movements of the shoes 16 and 16', the same are curved in a substantial S-shape, thus causing the shoes 51 and 52 to flex as may be necessary to. avoid restriction of movements of the shoes 16 and 16. From said pivots 53 the shoes curve upwardly and away from the rim 11 as indicated at 55, and then have a substantially straight portion 56 extending obliquely upwardly therefrom to the recurved shoe engaging end portion 5'7 thereof. It will be noted that in this form of the invention but a very small portion of the surface of the liquid is exposed to evaporation and that gas will not escape from under the shoes 51 and 52 due to the overlapped arrangement thereof. It is, of course, to be understood that there is a shoe 51 or 52 provided for each of the shoes 16 and 16'.

In some cases it might be desirable to omit the additional seal under the lower set of shoes and such an arrangement is shown in Fig. 8, the parts being otherwise substantially the same as previously described, and bearing the same reference numerals.

Having thus described my invention, what I desire to claim. and secure by United States Letters Patent is:

1. The combination with a tank and a movable deck in said tank spaced from the side wall of said tank, of sealing means on said deck engaging said side wall, said sealing means comprising vertically spaced metallic sealing members and means connecting said members in pairs to permit movement of the members of each pair relatively to each other.

2. The combination with a tank and a movable deck in said tank spaced from the side wall of said tank, said deck having an upstanding rim portion, of sealing means on said deck engaging said side wall, said sealing means comprising a plurality of members engaging said side wall below the top edge of said rim and a plurality of members engaging the said wall above the top of said rim.

3. The combination with a tank and a movable deck in said tank spaced from the side wall of said tank, said deck having an upstanding rim portion, of sealing means mounted on said rim portion and comprising pivoted members inclined upwardly from said rim portion toward said tank wall and pivoted members inclined downwardly from said rim portion toward said tank wall.

4. The combination with a tank of a deck movable in said tank and spaced from the side wall of said tank and sealing means on said deck comprising two series of shoes engaging said tank wall at vertically spaced points the shoes of one series being movable relatively to the shoes of the other series.

5. The combination with a tank, of a deck movable in said tank and spaced from the side wall of said tank and sealing means on said deck comprising pairs of oppositely directed shoes movable relatively to each other engaging said tank wall at vertically spaced points.

6. The combination with a tank, of a deck movable in said tank and spaced from the side wall thereof, and sealing means on said deck comprising shoes engaging said tank wall at vertically spaced points and means connecting said shoes to permit movement of one shoe without movement of a cooperating shoe.

'7. The combination with a tank, of a deck movable in said tank and spaced from the side wall thereof, and sealing means on said deck comprising an upper shoe, a lower shoe and means connecting said shoes to permit movement of one without movement of the other shoe.

8. The combination with a tank, of a deck movable in said tank and spaced from the side wall thereof, and yieldable sealing means on said deck comprising a plurality of upper and lower shoes engaging said wall at spaced points, said upper and lower shoes being relatively movable and said upper shoes directing water toward said deck.

9. The combination with a tank, of a deck movable in said tank and spaced from the side wa'l thereof, and sealing means on said deck comprising a set of shoes loosely pivoted on said deck, a set of shoes mounted on said first men tioned shoes and means-loosely connecting said shoes to permit movement of either of said sets of shoes without movement of the other thereof.

'10. The combination with a tank, of a deck movable in said tank and spaced from the side wall thereof, and sealing means on said deck comprising shoes loosely pivoted on said deck, shoes mounted on said first mentioned shoes to hold said first mentioned shoes in engagement with said side wall, said shoes engaging said side wall at vertically spaced points.

11. The combination with a tank, of a deck movable in said tank and spaced from the side wall thereof, and sealing means on said deck comprising lower shoes loosely pivoted on said deck, upper shoes carried by said lower shoes and a loose connection between each upper shoe and the corresponding lower shoe.

12. The combination with a tank, of a deck movable in said tank and spaced from the side wall thereof, and sealing means on said deck comprising sets of sealing members engaging said side wall at verticaly spaced points, each set comprising a plurality of shoes, and sealing means mounted between said deck and one set of said sealing members.

13. The combination with a tank, of a deck movable in said tank and spaced from the side wall thereof, and sealing means on said deck, comprising upper sealing members and lower sealing members engaging said side wall at vertically spaced points, and sealing means interposed between the lower portions of said lower sealing members and said deck.

14. The combination with a tank, of a deck movable in said tank and spaced from the side wall thereof, and sealing means on said deck, comprising upper sealing members and lower sealing members engaging said side wall at vertically spaced points, said lower sealing members having the lower ends thereof extending below the liquid level in said tank, and means associated with said lower sealing members near the lower ends thereof for reducing the surface of the liquid between said tank and deck exposed to surface evaporation.

15. The combination with a tank, of a deck movable in said tank and spaced from the side wall thereof, and sealing means on said deck, comprising a plurality of upper sealing members and lower sealing members engaging said side wall at vertically spaced points, said lower sealing members having the lower ends thereof ex tending below the liquid level in said tank, and sealing means mounted between said lower members and said deck having portions thereof extending below said liquid level and engaging both said lower sealing members and said deck.

16. The combination with a tank, of a deck movable in said tank and spaced from the side wall thereof, and sealing means on said deck, comprising upper and lower sealing members engaging said side wall at vertically spaced points, said lower sealing members having the lower ends thereof extending below the liquid level in said tank and sealing means of gas-tight flexible fabric extending between said deck and lower sealing members to seal the space under the same.

17. The combination with a tank, of a deck movable in said tank and spaced from the side wall thereof, and sealing means on said deck,

comprising upper and lower sealing members engaging said side wall at vertically spaced points,

said lower sealing members having the lower ends thereof extending below the liquid level in" said tank, sealing means of gas-tight flexible fabric extending between said deck and lower sealing members adjacent the liquid level in said tank to .seal the space under the same and yieldable clamping means for securing said fabric to said sealing members and said deck.

18. The combination with a tank, of a deck movable in said tank and spaced from the side wall thereof, and sealing means on said deck, comprising upper sealing members and lower sealing members engaging said side walls at vertically spaced points, and metallic sealing means interposed between the lower portions of said lower sealing members and said deck.

19. In combination, a storage tank, a floating deck and means for sealing the annular space between said tank and deck, comprising sealing plates arranged in a series circumferentially of the deck and fulcrumed with relation to the deck, the fulcrum defining the line of division between heel and toe portions of said plates, said heel portion being angularly directed for the application of stress to hold the depending curved toe portions against the shell, and a sealing apron secured respectively to the toe of the plate and to the deck.

20. In combination, a storage tank, a floating deck and means for sealing the annular space between them, comprising sealing plates in spaced order of arrangement circumferentially of the deck and fulcrumed with relation to the deck, the fulcrum defining the line of division between heel and toe portions of the plates, said heel portion being angularlydirected for the application of stress to hold the depending curved toe portion against the shell, and a sealing apron secured respectively to the toe of the plate and tothe deck.

21. In combination, a storage tank, a floating deck and means for sealing the annular space between them, comprising sealing plates in spaced order of arrangement circumferentially of the deck and fulcrumed with relation to the deck, the fulcrum defining the line of division between heel and toe portions of the plates, said heel portion being angularly directed for the application of stress to hold the depending curved toe portion against the shell, and a sealing apron secured at top and bottom respectively to the deck and to the toe of the plate and otherwise floated whereby it is free to open up to relieve explosive forces and to close again to snuff flames.

22. Means for sealing floating decks of storage tanks, including plates arranged in spaced relation circumferentially of the deck, the upper ends of the plates being fulcrumed on the deck and their lower ends being curved for contact with the tank wall, adjustable means for maintaining sealing contact between the curved ends of the plates and the tank wall, and a flexible sealing element secured at its upper edge to the deck and overlying the curved ends of the plates, and clamping plates for securing the lower edge of said element to each plate.

ANDREW A. KRAIVIER. 

